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December 6, 2011

What Time Off?

I felt like a million bucks by 4:30pm yesterday!

Around 2:00pm I headed to the barn to ride Rose. It had been -11ºF overnight, and was about 12ºF and when I arrived. The sun was glistening off the freshly fallen snow and Rose was busy stuffing her face with her hay pile. It was the coldest night she's ever had in her life, but seemed just fine. After a brief greeting we headed up to the barn.

Once in the cross ties she started acting up again, as she has for the past two weeks. I'm not sure why she's suddenly having cross tie issues, but I decided that I would take a different approach to the problem. Previously I've just stood there watching her, waiting for her to settle down, with little luck. This time, I brought some horse treats along, and decided to praise her and give her one every time she listened to my "whoa" "stand" command. She caught on quickly, as she is passionate about treats, and we had visible improvement. However, I am certain that we will be working on it again for a little while. After that, we tacked up and headed to the arena.

Rose is getting better about the garage door, but she still trots around a bit while I'm closing it. I imagine that too will improve with time. After a quick longe I hopped up on her. I have to say, that I'm a huge fan of longeing her without a line. The day she figures out that I don't have any control over the "circle" will be sad. For now though Rose is being great about it and my shoulder and elbow joints are very happy with our new longeing technique. Granted, this only works when no one else is in the arena.

I wasn't sure what to expect after her having two weeks off, but aside from being a bit stiff, she was great, and acted as if she's been ridden this whole time. The only difficulties I had was that in the past two weeks I suddenly started seriously showing. I actually look prego now, not just like I ate too much holiday candy. My britches didn't fit any more although I managed to squeeze my round belly in them with some discomfort and my belt was on the last notch. Honestly, it could have used another. Mounting was surprisingly awkward, even with the use of a mounting block, and my center of balance was off at the trot. Walking and cantering were a non-issue though. By the time we were done with our ride, my stress level plummeted, my endorphins were soaring and I'd gotten my ridding fix. I guess I'll just leave out that part that I'm still riding at my OB appointment this week.

Disclaimer

This blog and the training methods presented are not intended to be instructions, and I accept no responsibility for any injuries to horse or person that might try to replicate my training techniques. This blog is simply a forum for me to share accounts of what I personally did with my specific horses to train them. Do not assume that these methods would necessarily work with another horse or for any other person, or that another horse would react in the same way as described in this blog.

I simply hope that you find this blog entertaining and inspirational, and thanks for visiting!